Amos 5

HEar ye this word which I take up against you This preface you have in the same words, chap. 3. ver. 1. let. a b. c. d. and in part also chap. 4. ver, 1. let. a. b. to which I now add that the person here speaking may refer to the Prophet and to the Lord who sent him, both speak this word., even a lamentation Which is very sad and mournful to all concerned in it, woful news to the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes., O house of Israel.

The virgin This name is given to her not for her purity and integrity, for she was an Adulteress, but either ironically, or because her present Riches, Glory and Beauty seemed to be that of a Virgin that had her Portion, Strength, and Honour untoucht, or else by a figure as properly may it be applyed to Israel as to Babylon, Isa. 47.1. or to gypt, Ier. 46.11. to Sidon, Isa. 23.12. of Israel is fallen Or shall ere long fall, the thing put as done already because of the certainty of it. Or rather is already falling by civil Wars, and conspiracies which prepared way for the final ruine of Israel; it is possible this Sermon of the Prophet might be about the time that Sha um, or Menahem usurpt the Throne. Or else it may refer to the times of Iohoa az, when that of the third verse will appear to have been fulfilled, this seems most probable., she shall no more rise Though they might by Repentance have risen again, yet the Prophet considering their obstinacy speaks of it as a thing that should never be, as eventually it proved, also for Israel never recovered the fall by Salmaneser.: she is forsaken upon her land Broken to pieces upon her own Land and so left as a broken vessel, or she shall be by home divisions first broken and afterwards carried Captive., there is none to raise her up None at home among all her Princes, Councellors, and Rulers, no any Friend among her Allies, all leave her to sink..

For thus says the LORD God This solemnly attesteth the certainty of the thing., The city that went out by a thousand That sent out one thousand Souldiers as the quota they were assessed at to help against an invader. shall leave an hundred Shall lose nine parts of Ten, so great shall the slaughter be which the prevailing Enemy shall make upon Israel, and here the Prophet useth a certain number to express an uncertain, or proverbially scarce a tenth man shall escape., and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten to the house The Kingdom of the ten Tribes, and this perhaps may refer backward to Iehoa az his time, 2 Kings 13. to be sure its fulfilled in the wars of Salmaneser and the taking Samaria. of Israel.

¶ For Or yet, truely. thus says the LORD Amidst all those threats there is still a reserve, a conditional proviso, and the Lord here does by his Prophet declare it. unto the house of Israel Though Apostate both in sacred and civils, though polluted and defiled greatly, and this through many scores of years yet after all Repentance would help them., Seek Enquire for my Law and repent of your despising it, obey it in all things for future, enquire diligently what promises I have made and wait for them, believe, obey, and repent for this is to seek the Lord, when a people have turned from the Lord, as you have done O house of Israel. ye me, and ye shall live It shall be well with you, your Persons, Families, and the whole Kingdom shall prosper as the Heb. phrase importeth..

But seek not Beth-el Consult not, worship not, depend not on the Idol Calf at Bethel, or seek not God at Bethel but at Ierusalem where he will be found; cast off Idolatry, return to the true God and to his instituted Worship, so shall ye live., nor enter into Gilgal A City of great Idolatry, a place where God will not be sought nor found by you, Vid. Hos. 4.15. and 9.15. and 12.11. where it is more fully explained., and passe not to Beersheba Though God of old did, Gen. 26.24. appear there to Isaac, though Abraham dwelt there, Gen. 21.31, 32, 33. and Iacob sacrificed there with acceptance, Gen. 46.1, 2, 3. yet now God appointeth Ierusalem and the Temple the only places of his solemn worship, and of your seeking him.: for Gilgal The Inhabitants of Gilgal, for the place could not go into Captivity, it is a Metonymie, the place put for the people. shall surely go into captivity Salmaneser and his Assyrians shall certainly carry them away Captives. and Beth-el Both City and People. shall come to nought Shall be vanity and disappointment to all that trust to the Idols of it..

Seek the LORD, and ye shall live The Prophet repeateth his Exhortation to Repentance with the repeated promise of a good issue hereon, vid. ver. 4. let. p. q., lest This is a new argument to persuade with them to do their duty, for unless they do it Gods judgments will break out upon them. he break out like fire Suddenly with strength, and prevalence, as the Heb. word here rendred, break forth, importeth. in the house of Joseph The Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim, who was the younger Son of Ioseph, and the first erector of this Kingdom was an Ephraimite, 1 King. 11.26., and devour it Utterly consume it as Fire useth to do, where it gets head and prevaileth., and there be none to quench it in Bethel If once this Fire break out from God all your Idols in Bethel shall not be able to quench it, no tears from your eyes there shed, no blood of sacrifice there offered shall quench it..

Ye Rulers and Judges. who turn judgment The righteous sentence of the Law, the equity of it which is sweet and pleasing to just men, and safe for all. to worm-wood Proverbially understood bitterness, grief, injustice and oppression., and leave off Make to cease in your Courts of Judicature and tread it under foot. righteousness in the earth Or among men, in the Land, the latter part of this verse explains the former..

Seek Tho this be not in the Hebrew 'tis well supplyed by our interpreters. him that maketh the seven stars A famous Constellation, and whose rising abount September was usually accompanied with Rains and sweet showers, which as chap. 4. ver. 7. had been withholden, whence want of Water and Bread, now the Prophet adviseth to seek the Lord who can give them Rain and corn, by the kindly influences of that watry constellation, which as he made so he guides and mamanageth, This I take to be the most natural meaning of the place. and Orion Which arising about November brings usually Cold, Rains and Frosts intermixt with much uncertainty, but very seasonable for the Earth, to make it fruitful, this mentioned to persuade these people to repent, who were afflicted with such barrenness and unfruitfulness as brought famine with it., and turneth the shadow of death into the morning Proverbially, that turneth greatest adversity (which is here called shadow of death) into as great prosperity, here called the Morning, Psalm 23.4., and maketh the day dark with night Metaphorically this expresseth a change of prosperity into adversity; ye house of Israel think well of it, you are in a dangerous state advised to seek him, who can turn your Morning into Night, or your Night into Morning; who can on a sudden remove all evil from you, and bring all good upon you; seek him therefore, and seek not Idols., that calleth for the waters of the sea Either to raise them to terrible swellings and rage, or rather calls up waters out of the Sea, by commanding the vapour to ascend, which he turneth into rain;, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth and then poureth out from the Clouds to make the Earth fruitful., the LORD is his name He only is God and the Lord, who does thus seek him..

That strengtheneth the spoiled You have been exceedingly weakened and spoiled by your enemies; yet return, repent, seek God, for he can renew your strength, that you shall spoil your spoilers who are strong. against the strong The mighty, victorious and insolent., so that the spoiled Those that had lost their strength, and were as conquered. shall come against the fortress Shall rally, re-embody and form a siege against their besiegers, so God whom you should serve, will soon turn all from dark and dismal into light, and pleasing unto you, and yours; in your Apostacy all will be misery and darkness, but in your retur all shall be well and prosperous with you..

They Either this is the Prophets complaint of them without farther expecting their complyance with his advice, or he foretels what they will do, Judges and people. hate him that rebuketh They both hate them that rebuke; Judges hate the Prophets, who rebuke corrupt Judges, and the people hate impartial Judges, if any such be among them; in the gate Where Judges sate, and where the Prophets did many times deliver their message., and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly They cannot brook any one that deals plainly and honestly with them, whether Judge, Prophet or private person..

Forasmuch therefore as your treading Their oppression was more then ordinarily proud and tyrannous, exprest here by treading. It was very heavy on the poor, an effect of fraud, and executed with tyrannical insolence, as the word, and its Paraphrase imports. is upon the poor Who have not power to withstand your violence, nor money to buy your friendship., and ye take from him Receive when offered, and ye force them to offer, you extort from the poor. burdens of wheat Great quantities of best Wheat, on which the poor should live, either making bread of it to feed them, or else making money of it to serve other oc asions. It is not said what burthen, but probably as much as the poor man was able to carry.; ye have built houses Perhaps these corrupt Judges had built for their children; so one greedy and ravenous Judge might build as many houses as he had Sons, or these Judges being many had built many houses. of hewen stone Intimating the greatness, beauty and strength of them, and they flatter themselves, that they and their posterity shall long dwell at ase, and multiply in these goodly houses., but ye shall not dwell in them You by oppression build, but God will by his just hand, and by the Assyrians violence, turn you out of those houses, and make you captives in a land where your enemies please to carry you, you shall find that Deut. 28.30. fulfilled on you,: ye have planted pleasant vineyards Most desireable for scituation, for fruitfulness, for sweetness and goodness of the Grape; every way delightful., but ye shall not drink wine of them Either they shall not bear, or the enemy shall devour, or you shall be carried away into captivity. The threat Deut. 28.39. shall be executed:.

For Wonder not at the threatned severity, as if 'twere too rigorous; it is but proportioned to your sins. I The Lord whom you provoke, who have threatned you, know clearly, fully, and in all the circumstances of them, what moves you to do so, what pretences of Law you make, all your evasions are vain and foolish. your manifold transgressions The increased number of your sins, and the greatness of them too, as the word importeth., and your mighty Which mightily wrong, and break the poor and needy. sins: they afflict Besiege, or with hostile minds watch against, and gladly take any occasion to wrong, and grieve the just. the just Not absolutely and sinlesly just, but such as are comparatively just, or those whose cause is just, or those that live with regard to all the commands of God, and follow Righteousness: It was the mighty sin of the corrupt Rulers in Samaria and Israel at that day, that they were enemies to all righteousness., they take a bribe In civil causes bribes carried it, Vid. chap. 2. verse 6. let. p. †. q. r. s. t. here bribes set criminals free, a ransom, as the word Hebr. buyes off the punishment appointed by the Law against Murtherers, Adulterers, &c., and they turn aside the poor in the gate The poor, who appear in their Courts for Justice, they turn them away, or delay to hear, or hear and judge unjustly, and so send them away wrong'd and crying., from their right These words fully express the Prophets meaning, and are therefore well supply'd in our Version..

Therefore Because that men are so universally impatient of hearing reproof, and yet their sins so much abound, and so much deserve reproof; since they will sooner turn against the speaker, then turn from the sin spoken against. the prudent The wise men, Prophets say some, but I rather think other private men are here meant, whose private capacity alloweth them to keep silence, when others must speak, shall keep silence Be forced to it, (say some) they shall be silenced; this true, but rather here is a voluntary, chosen silence toward vile corrupters of Law and Justice, who will nothing mend though reproved, or a silence before God, owning his Justice in punishing such sinners. in that time, for it is an evil time Both for the sinfulness of it, which provoketh God to wrath, and for the sorrowes, troubles, wars and captivity of this people, by the Assyrians..

Seek good Turn to the law of God, study it, that ye may do the good it requireth in works of Piety, Justice and Charity. and not evil You have devised evil, and done it in works of impiety, injustice and cruelty. Or this may be the same with verse 4.5, 6. which see., that ye may live Vid. verse 4. let. q.: and so the LORD the God of hosts shall be with you The Eternal Glorious God, who is Lord of all, and can help you, having all the Hosts of Heaven and Earth at his disposal; He will be with you to bless and save you yet, notwithstanding all your former sins., as ye have spoken You have boasted his being with you, you think he is bound to be with you, and own you, so he will indeed, but 'tis if you repent, cease from Idols and violence..

Hate Slight dis ikes will do little in this case, you Rulers and Judges must heartily hate, and show that you hate, the evil both wayes, doings, contrivers and abettors of the evil among the people, and your selves., and love the good Commend, encourage, defend and reward all good in others, and do it your selves, let your heart be toward good things, and good men., and establish judgment in the gate By this its evident the Prophet speaks to Governours and Judges among them, what the import of the phrase is see, verse 10. let. b. c. and verse 12. let. y. Set up honest and upright Judges in every Gate, where Judges did sit in those days.: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious Possibly he will forgive, or abate, or respite the evil days, possibly he may give you his gracious presence, and yet save, unto the remnant what the invasions of enemies, or the Civil Wars have spared, and le t of Joseph in Samaria and Israel, the ten Tribes, Vid. chap. 5. verse 6. let. d..

Therefore The Prophet foreseeing their obstinacy in their sins, and their refusing to obey his Counsel from the Lord, does proceed to denounce Judgment against them. the LORD the God of hosts, the Lord says thus That there might be no doubt made of the truth of the Prophets words, he does in most solemn manner attest it to be from the Lord, and that he might awake them to Repentance and Humiliation, he proclaims the majesty and power of God who calls them to it., wailing Lamentations uttered in words and gestures, Eccl. 12.5. Ier. 4.8. Zech. 12.10. shall every where be seen and heard in the broad streets of your Cities, as when the Assyrians prevail'd and cut off the Forces of Israel, besieged and took their strong holds. shall be in all streets Of great Towns or Cities., and they shall say in all the high-ways Abroad in the Country, and on the road all shall cry out as undone, dispirited and hopeless men, Alas! alas!, Alas, Alas: and they shall call the husbandman to mourning This sort of men are little used to such Ceremonies of mourning, but now such shall their state be, that they shall be called upon; Leave your toil, betake your selves to publick mourning., and such as are skilful of lamentation And to make all sound doleful, call in those whose art lyeth in acting the part of mourners, and can move hardest hearts to lament and bewail. See these Ier. 9.17, 18. and Mat. 9.23., to wailing.

And in all vineyards In these places was usually the greatest jollity, and they gather'd their Vintage with joy, but now 'tis quite contrary, either Vines are blasted, or eaten up, or destroy'd of the enemy. shall be wailing, for I will pass through thee As an incensed God punishing all, every where, who have sinned against him, and therefore every place now shall be full of sorrow, because every place has been full of sin., says the LORD.

Wo unto you that desire Scoffingly, or not believing any such day would come, the Prophets had long threatned such a day, but these scoffers thought no such thing could overtake them, and if it did they would know the worst of it, alter their course they will not, whatever comes on it, and they are confident the Prophets fright them with bug-bears, but wo to such scoffers. the day of the LORD Vid. Joel 1.15. and 2.2. and Zeph. 1.15.; to what end What do you think to get by it? What good can you expect when darkest calamities overwhelm you? is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness All adversi y most black and doleful, therefore called in the abstract darkness., and not light No joy, hope or comfort in it..

As if a man did flee from a lyon, and a bear met him Here Proverbially is exprest the continuance and succession of evils one after another; it will be a long calamity when your civil dissensions waste you first, next Gods Armies of Locusts and Palmer-worms, and the Assyrians too, until all ends in final Captivity; you may escape one, but shall fall into another calamity, and worse then that you escaped; abroad your miseries shall be like a Lyon or Bear.; or went into the house At home you may hope for safety from such open dangers, but there other kind of mischief shall meet you., and leaned his hand on the wall Weary and faint shall think to ease and support himself., and a serpent bit him Whose biting infuseth a deadly poyson, which suddenly corrupts the whole mass of blood, and kills the man. If Conspirators at home be Lyons, the Assyrians will be as ears to you..

Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it All these things considered, ye secure, profane and Atheistical scoffers, speak your selves, will not that day be as dark as I have described, and as little to your comfort??

¶ I hate Impure and unholy they are, whatever they seem to be, and therefore the Lord hateth them, they are abomination to him, Prov. 15.8. and Isa. 1.13, 14., I despise Worthless and contemptible they are, and as such God rejecteth them, Isa. 1.10, 11, 12. &c. There is no goodness that I should value in them, there is all that vileness in them which attends deep hypocrisie, for which I do hate them. your feast-days The Apostate Israelites imitated the Iewes in many things, amongst which they retained their Festivals, in which they multiplyed their Ceremonial Sacrifices, and yet God owns them not as His, but brands them with this, they are yours, therefore unwarrantable, will-worship, and displeasing to God., and I will not smell A savour of rest or delight, I will not accept and be pleased with, Gen. 8.21. in your solemn assemblies Appointed, as you think, on very weighty reasons, and by sufficient Authority, and Celebrated with rich Sacrifices, in mighty crowds, and in excellent order, all is yours, not mine..

Though ye That have departed from my Temple, Law and Institutions, you of the ten Tribes. offer me burnt-offerings Which was wholly burnt on the Altar; no part due to any but God; of this these Hypocrites had a high esteem, Micah 6.6. because they accounted it an entire gift to God., and your meat-offerings To your burnt-offering add the other, your meat-offering also, as Lev. 2.1, 2. Numb. 6.17. Vid. Ioel 1.13. and 2.14., I will not accept them It may be a Meiosis, I will as ver. 21. hate them.: neither will I regard the peace-offerings Your Thank-offerings too, of which Lev. 6.12. and 7.15 your praises for your prosperity is no better pleasing neither. of your fat beasts In these Peace-offerings, though you bring the best, the fattest, yet you bring nothing but a beast, for you leave your hearts with your sins, and you have no warrant from God to do this, nay, you are prohibited, for you are to offer only at Ierusalem, and at the Temple..

Take thou away from me the noise By way of contempt and loathing, God calls their songs noise, how harmonious, delightful and ravishing soever they might be to their ears, they were not pleasing unto God. of thy songs Used in their Sacrifices, and their solemn Feasts, herein they imitated Temple-Worship, but all was unpleasing to the Lord., for I will not hear This is not to be taken absolutely, for God heard the noise, but 'tis taken in a qualified sense, he did not hear with delight and acceptance. the melody of thy viols This one kind of Musical instrument put for all the rest, in a word, your Hypocrisie, Idolatry and Injustice spoils all your services, and makes God weary of you and them.. The pleasing harmony, the sweet concents.

But And Hebr. let judgment Some interpret this of Paenal Judgment, by God threatned against these Hypocrites, but 'tis better understood of Justice to be administred by Rulers, whose office 'twas to determine between party and party. run down as waters Freely, constantly, speedily, and for common benefit of all, as waters run., and righteousness Equity, relieving Justice, the want of which has been notorious among you. as a mighty stream Which bears down all that opposeth it, be hindered by none from doing every one right, do this and you may yet be accepted..

Have ye Their Fathers and they, though at so great distance of time are one people, and so the Prophet considers them in this place. offered Did you not frequently omit to offer, and yet were not reproved or plagued for the omission, when your frequent removes, and many other difficulties made it unpracticable, so little is Sacrifice with your God! and yet when you did offer, unto me was it to me only, or did you not sacrifice to Idols and false Gods, and provoked me? Will worship and Idolatry have been hereditary diseases in your Generations; and it is well known too, that these Idolaters fell in the Wilderness, and are made admonitions to you. sacrifices Of beasts slain, as the word properly speaks., and offerings Minchab in general s any gift or present made, but particularly here it is a gift or present of fine flower, Oyl and Frankincense unto God with the Sacrifice. in the wilderness fourty years It was a broken number of years in exact account, that is 38 An. and 11 Moneths, but as is common in such cases, the full and round number is taken, and so the account runs here, and in Acts 7.42. fourty years., O house of Israel You of the ten Tribes.?

But ye The Idolatrous Children of Idolatrous Fathers. have born Carried along with you in the Wilderness; the tabernacle Or little Chappel, or shrine, or Canopy in which the Image of their Idol was placed. Though others conjecture this to be the proper name of an Idol, I conjecture 'tis the name of the Portable Temple or Chappel in which the supposed Deity was placed. of your Moloch The great Idol of the Ammonites, as Iupiter was of the Greeks and Romans; Some antient King among them, who was a famous Founder, or Raiser, and Benefactour to their Nation, though we know not who this was. and Chiun Perhaps if we understand the whole apparatus, or storehouse of their Images, we shall not err. Their grand Idol was Moloch, whose Image they kept, and carried about in a Sacellum, or Consecrated portable Chappel, and with him the rest of their petite Deities, in their Images placed orderly, as they fancied, about their great Deity; others will have Chiun to be Saturn., your images What ere these were 'tis plain God accounts them their Inventions, and their Gods., the star of your God What Star this was we need not enquire, the Idolaters appropriated the Stars to their Gods, and probably did in the roof of their Gods Tabernacles, frame the Star over the Image of their God, or the Star your God, or which you worship., which ye made to your selves All which Deities you have found out and established to your selves..

Therefore For all your Idolatry and other sins in which you have obstinately continued, will I cause you to go into captivity you shall certainly be subdued and captivated, and this shall be done, so that my hand shall appear evidently in it. beyond Damascus Into Assyria, and into parts beyond Damascus, but 'tis not certain into what corners of the World they were sent; but probably to those parts that lay about the Caspian Sea; more remote from their own Country, then ever to hope they may get back again: Or thus, you shall be carried into a Captivity more grievous, by Salmaneser, then was the captivity of those whom Tiglath Pil eser led captive when he slew Resin, took Damascus, and wasted Israel in the days of Peka, when some Israelites were carried Captives, but this shall be a more grievous Captivity., says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.